Prekmurska gibanica
Prekmurska gibanica originates from Prekmurje, which literally means 'across the Mura river (region)', and is the most renowned traditional Slovenian pastry. The name comes from güba, which in the dialect means a fold - implying that it is a type of cake that is folded. The exact origin of the recipe is not clear. One of the earliest references is from 1828 by Jožef Košič:
»Gostüvanje never goes by without gibanica, which is done as follows: the dough is rolled out until thin, sprinkled with grated cabbage, turnips, or farmer's cheese. All is covered by the second layer of dough. It is sprinkled as previously. 10 or 11 such layers are thus composed and form a conspicuous cake. It is sprinkled with ingredients on top as well. To conclude the procedure, it is brushed with butter on top and baked in an oven. At the dinner table it is cut into eight triangles, which are placed one above the other to make a tower. The cake must be offered to each guest. They may eat it or take it home.«
Bogataj, Janez. Taste Slovenia. Ljubljana: Rokus Gifts & National Geographic, 2007.
This extract suggests that over the centuries the structure of the cake has stayed more or less the same, but the fillings have changes (and the order in which they came).
Bogataj, Janez. Taste Slovenia. Ljubljana: Rokus Gifts & National Geographic, 2007.
Recipe
Ingredients (for a rectangular 18x30 cm pan or a square 24x24 cm pan):
Dough for the Base
150 g flour
1 egg
15 g sugar
75 g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
5 g baking powder
pinch of salt
240 g phyllo dough
If you wish to make your own phyllo dough, here is the recipe:
90 g flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vinegar
pinch of salt
lukewarm water as needed to make the dough elastic
Poppy Seed Layer
300 g poppy seeds
480 ml milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
75 g butter
100 g sugar
1 egg
Walnut Layer
450 g ground walnuts
200 ml heavy cream
100 g sugar
Farmer's Cheese Layer
1000 g farmer's cheese (can be replaced by ricotta)*
1 egg
100 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
zest of 1 lemon
Apple Layer
4 apples (around 800 g in weight)
50 g sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon
300 g sour cream
*In this recipe, using farmer's cheese will work much better than ricotta since ricotta is too runny. While I lived in the US, I used the brand Friendship: https://www.friendshipdairies.com/en/products/farmer-cheese It is also possible to make farmer's cheese at home with just two ingredients: https://www.olgainthekitchen.com/homemade-farmers-cheese/ .
Instructions:
Dough for the Base
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add cold butter and rub it into the flour mixture until you have small flakes.
Add egg and vanilla paste. Mix until you have uniform dough.
Alternatively, you can put everything into a food processor and mix until you get a uniform dough.
Poppy Seed Layer
For the filling, place poppy seeds, sugar, milk and butter to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook at medium heat until the poppy seeds are cooked and the mixture is thick (about 30 minutes).
Add vanilla paste.
Once the poppy seed mixture has cooled down slightly, mix in the egg.
Walnut Layer
Bring 200 ml heavy cream and sugar to a simmer.
Pour the cream mixture over ground walnuts, stir, and let cool.
Farmer's Cheese Layer
Mix all the ingredients for the farmer's cheese layer together. If you use ricotta and the filling is runny, add some cookie or bread crumbs.
Apple Layer
Core the apples, peel them, and grate them. Mix the grated apples with sugar, cinnamon, and the zest of 1 lemon.
All the fillings, base dough and phyllo dough.
Making Prekmurska gibanica
Once all the fillings, base dough and phyllo dough are ready, we begin building gibanica.
First, butter the pan.
Place the base dough to the bottom of the baking pan.
On the top of the base dough, put one layer of phyllo pastry, spread sour cream over it, and another layer of phyllo dough.
Put half of the poppy seed filling on top of that.
The poppy seeds are then covered with another layer of phyllo dough, sour cream, and phyllo dough.
Over that spread half the farmer's cheese filling.
The third filling is then walnuts, followed by apples. Each filling is covered with phyllo dough, sour cream, and another phyllo dough layer.
Repeat the procedure with the fillings in the same order and complete with a layer of phyllo dough, sour cream, and one final phyllo dough layer.
On top of the final phyllo dough layer, spread sour cream generously.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (355 Fahrenheit) for 1 hour. Let cool for several hours before serving.
